Chamber and committees

Control of airspace is reserved to Westminster and governed by the UK Civil Aviation Authority. It is for Edinburgh Airport to ensure that their Airspace Change Programme complies with all relevant legislation.

We announced the introduction of compulsory soil testing last year, and since then we have been working on the detail with a range of scientific, environmental and industry stakeholders. We are considering options for compulsory soil testing to be part of the package of measures to reduce emissions from agriculture in the Climate Change Plan, the third report on policies and proposals which will be published in draft in January next year.

While aviation policy is largely Reserved to the UK Government, the Scottish Government ensures that all its policies are compliant with all legal and international obligations through a robust policy development and impact assessment process including Environmental Impact Assessments and public consultations.

The Scottish Government grant funds the Energy Saving Trust for a range of transport programmes, which includes fuel efficient driver training sessions. These sessions are promoted to organisations through the local EST transport advisor network and are usually promoted with further advice to businesses on reducing the carbon impact of their transport. Additionally, individuals can book a session through the Home Energy Scotland advice line.

These sessions are free to the participant and up to 3,000 places a year are funded. Each session lasts approximately 50 minutes. Sessions are also available for Electric Vehicle drivers, which last approximately 2 hours. More information is available at http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/businesses-organisations/transport/fuelgood-driver-training

The Scottish Government is encouraging the uptake of agroforestry through a new grant as part of the Forestry Grant Scheme within Scotland Rural Development Programme 2014-2020. This is the first time a grant specifically for agroforestry has been available in Scotland. It is also working closely with farming stakeholders to encourage greater levels of woodland planting as part of farming enterprises.

The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 provided a long lead-in time to ensure that all parties could prepare for the ban on biodegradable municipal waste going to landfill from January 2021. We will continue to work with Councils and waste management companies in preparation for the ban, including through the forthcoming Scottish Materials Brokerage Service residual waste contract which is open to all Councils.

Through its environmental permitting and regulation, SEPA requires operational landfills accepting bio-degradable waste to be engineered to capture, monitor and treat landfill gas. SEPA is also working with councils and landfill operators to minimise the risks that closed (non-operational regulated) landfills pose to the environment. The Scottish Government made £500k available to councils in 2015-16 to support the capture of methane from closed landfills, and announced a further £500k on 6 October 2016.

As already stated in the answer to question S5W-02631 on 15 September 2016, there is legislation in place to prevent the deliberate killing of marine mammals.

It is a matter for individual companies wishing to export fish or fish products to the US to seek their own legal advice on compliance with the US regulations.

The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012 require separate collection of dry recyclable materials and, with the exception of specified rural areas, food waste.

Our circular economy strategy “Making Things Last” was published earlier in 2016, and sets out our ambitions and priorities to keep products and materials in high value use for as long as possible. We have set out an ambition for every household in Scotland to have access to a food waste service, and we will be discussing with local authorities how best to achieve that outcome. We will also be working closely with local authorities, including those in rural and island areas, on the implementation of the Scottish Household Recycling Charter, which will make it easier for people to recycle.

It is for those individual companies wishing to export fish or fish products to the US to seek their own legal advice on compliance with the relevant US regulations.

We are taking forward a range of actions to accelerate the widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). Our strategy is set out in detail in our EV Roadmap, Switched On Scotland (www.transport.gov.scot/report/j272736-00.htm). The Roadmap is currently being reviewed, with a refreshed document scheduled for publication by Spring 2017.

With regard to support we provide towards a) the up-front cost, we fund the Energy Saving Trust’s Low Carbon Loan Scheme, which offers interest-free loans of up to £35,000 for individuals and £100,000 for businesses (£35,000 per EV).

Through our Switched On Fleets programme, we’ve also offered £3.7 million in grants across all 32 community planning partnerships over the past three years. We estimate this will result in around 350 new EVs in the Scottish public sector fleet by Spring 2017.

With regards to b) roll-out of preferential road access, we are developing a Scottish framework for local EV incentives, scheduled for publication later this year. This will include guidance for local authorities on measures such as opening up bus lanes to EVs. Furthermore, allowing EVs access to areas where more polluting vehicles are restricted or charged, will be a key consideration as we implement our commitment to putting in place a first Scottish low emission zone by 2018.